First Internet Governance Forum Meeting Held in Athens
31 Oct 2006ATHENS - With the overall theme of "Internet Governance for Development," the first meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was held in Athens, Greece, October 30- November 2, 2006.
Convened by the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and chaired by Nitin Desai, the IGF is a new forum for a multi-stakeholder dialogue on Internet governance that was established last November in the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Tunis.
More than 1,200 delegates from over 90 countries discussed a wide range of Internet governance related issues with a focus on the following four key themes:
·Openness - Freedom of expression, free flow of information, ideas and knowledge.
·Security - Creating trust and confidence through collaboration, particularly by protecting users from spam, phishing and viruses while protecting privacy.
·Diversity - Promoting multilingualism, including IDN, and local content.
·Access - Internet connectivity: Policy and cost, dealing with the availability and affordability of the Internet including interconnection costs, interoperability and open standards.
Capacity building was also treated as a cross-cutting priority and discussions on this theme focused on what needs to be done to ensure meaningful participation of stakeholders from developing countries in matters of public policy that may arise in the management of the Internet.
Speaking during the opening session, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Secretary-General Guy Sebban said, "Greater participation in wide-ranging discussions with all parties on an equal footing is the best way to build an "information society for all."
"It is an opportunity to stimulate a more inclusive debate, share information, and foster a wider web of working relationships among business, government, civil society, technical experts and intergovernmental organizations on the information society," he added.
ICC is engaged at the IGF through its recently-launched initiative, Business Action to Support the Information Society (BASIS), which is chaired by Talal Abu-Ghazaleh. BASIS will lend business expertise and experience to the emerging global dialogue that is shaping the agenda on Internet governance and information and communication technologies.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) and member of the IGF Advisory Group, Charles Sha'ban commented, "This gathering provided a unique opportunity for participants to share information, experiences and best practices aiming to contribute to a better understanding of how the Internet can be used to its full potential for the benefit of all people."
"The IGF is not a decision-making body, but a space for dialogue for all stakeholders to know more or at least have an idea about initiatives related to Internet governance which is in my opinion was successfully accomplished in the meeting," he added.
The next IGF will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in November 2007.
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